1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an improvement in tape dispensers and particularly in dispensers for label material which can be printed upon and placed on an article surface under a protective tape.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Dispensers have been made and utilized wherein the packing label or the write-on label is laminated to a piece of transparent pressure-sensitive adhesive tape such that the label can be applied to the surface of a package or bottle with the label completely protected by the tape.
One prior device has been a label dispenser wherein the labels were supplied to the dispenser in a stack so one could readily write on the top label of the stack, advance a piece of tape across the stack and apply the pressure-sensitive adhesive coated surface of the tape to the label on the top of the stack and then further dispense and sever the tape whereby a piece of tape would completely cover and provide an overlap around all edges of the label such that it would be completely protected on the receptor surface. The use of stacks of labels, particularly if preprinted, add a certain amount of expense to one of the necessary products for the user. Secondly, the dispenser, when it was moved from place to place, occasionally resulted in the loss of labels from the stack of labels. Further, in dispensing the covering tape it was necessary to adhere the tape to the label in the top of the stack and withdraw a further amount of tape to provide the overlap on the trailing edge of the label prior to severing of the protective tape. This was not an automatic reaction when operating the dispenser and consequently it was not done on occasion and one edge of the label was left exposed.
The present invention thus provides an improved label dispenser and an improved product for the dispenser such that a label may be advanced and positioned for the operator to write upon the label any desired message. The protective tape is then dispensed to a position above the label tape and adhered to the upper surface of the label tape. The protective tape is then raised, which movement causes the label tape to be drawn against the edge of a severing blade, and upon further lifting of the protective tape, the protective tape will engage a severing blade to sever it in a position spaced from the trailing edge of the severed label.